“Gamers gonna game,” the saying goes. It’s the siren’s song that every action shooter knows well. It’s the magic elixir for those who find those little Easter Eggs in a stage and it fans fires of rage for competitors and stage designers alike when they are caught asleep at the switch. Indeed, it is sometimes why we can’t have nice things and every new rule usually has a low-key namesake. That brings us to the beginning of our story.
The year was 2011. One Daniel Horner was in the prime of his U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit Career and doing exactly what the AMU’s mission is—to push the limit of small arms development, and to win. AAC had a bounty up for anyone who won the USPSA Multigun Nationals with a .300 Blackout. That year, Daniel rolled up to the match with a 20-inch barrel JP rifle and some WILDCAT .300 Blk. (seriously kids, don’t try this at home) to declare Major Power Factor and stomp the field (even more than usual, that is).
It was at that point that it was determined Three-Gun had played with Hit Factor until they broke it. Subsequent USPSA Multigun Nationals would be scored the more common (for Three-Gun) Time Plus—until now
The single biggest change to the USPSA Multigun Nationals from last year was to score the match Hit Factor. We did this for a few reasons. First, there has been a new demonstrated demand for Hit Factor in other competition disciplines. A major point of feedback last year was displeasure with the archaic stage points system (fixed at 100 regardless of size), whereas Hit Factor self-scales point values by the number of targets. But the biggest reason was good old DVC.
The USPSA Multigun National Championship is different from all other major Three-Gun matches still in existence. Most matches are an incarnation of their Match Director’s vision and style. Ironman is to Travis Gibson, as Blueridge is to Andy Horner, as Trigun is to the Minnesota Three-Gun Group; these matches could change hands in title, but they would not be the same. The USPSA Multigun Nationals, in contrast, is done in the image of an organization and sanctioning body. The match has had at least three stewards during the time I’ve been in the sport and has been held at several ranges. The first time I set foot on Desert Sportsman’s in Las Vegas to shoot the match, I can tell you that adding my name to the list of Match Directors was not on my Bingo card.
When I sat down behind the wheel of the match, DVC with all three platforms was of foundational importance. This is my personal hot-take, but I feel like a lot of current Three-Gun matches are really rifle matches with distractions (i.e., a shooter cannot advance in standing with shotgun or handgun, primarily just go backwards). Shotguns used to be an equalizer because the darn things are constantly hungry, but quad loading leveled that playing field, as well as arrays that subsequently have become less imaginative. (I think I’ve shot entire UML matches with a spreader choke in my shotgun.) Also, with a full schedule of pistol matches literally anywhere, pistol shooting at Three-Gun matches can be unimaginative as well.
Our goal for the USPSA Handgun Nationals, as long as we are stewards of it, is that the full breadth and spectrum of all three platforms should be tested and balanced with the others. Properly executed, a champion can’t lean on or hide from a platform.
Hit Factor opens up many interesting challenges and possibilities for match staff. Scoring alphas is a dynamic changer for rifle precision on paper targets. Activators test power. Of course, speed is constantly diluting the points one has accrued. The thing I like the most about it is the dynamic being changed from raw time and punishment to points available and getting them. Don’t want to shoot the clay? Fine, but it’s 20 points floating there for you to grab. Struggling on the long range? Fine, but you are leaving 30 points on the table. It’s on the stage designer to compel the shooter to attempt a shot with the carrot of points.
Hit Factor also opened up a lot of possibilities with the optional targets, which were popular this year. We used hard-cover D-zone paper targets to signify optional targets—that is to say, targets that were eligible to neutralize with more than one type of firearm. The IPSC version was eligible as a rifle or a pistol target, while the USPSA targets were available to rifles, pistols or shotgun slugs. Slugs were scored as two hits in whatever zone the primary projectile landed (sometimes wads can puncture the target as well). Sometimes slugs can be a layup, and they can be unpredictable. Intermixing slugs with birdshot is always an extra for experts if you to like to live dangerously.
Optional targets were made popular by the now-defunct Three-Gun Nation competition, but unilaterally allowing all paper targets to be optional can open Pandora’s box pretty quickly sometimes. For uniformity’s sake, it is best to introduce optional paper as a distinct target throughout the whole match. Credit where credit is due, it was actually DNROI’s idea to use the hard-cover D-zone to create a distinctive third type of target from the two shapes that are legal.
Hit Factor also helps us add smaller stages into the mix in a balanced way. Many of the major outlaw matches are 100 percent monster field courses. I like those matches too, but the smaller (really the mid-sized) courses were something that I felt had gone missing from the sport and would be in line with DVC as well. This year and last, we consolidated this into a final half-day speed-shoot type format. We did it this way with the thought that the schedule would be more balanced, everyone could watch the races culminate in the last day, and, dare I say, put a little more pressure on the top 10 percent as they finished the job. While the smaller stages continue to get popular reviews, going forward we will probably revert to a more linear stage schedule with them in the mix.
Overall, we are really excited as to how the match turned out this year. We definitely have our eyes on a few tweaks we want to make for the match to be even better. The USPSA Multigun Committee is also evaluating the now-infamous Rule 10.2.1, and will propose an amendment to the Rules Committee this fall.
On the whole, we really like the dynamic Hit Factor added to the USPSA Multigun Nationals in 2024 and plan to continue with it as part of the format for next year. If you would like to join us for next year, look for registration to open sometime in February 2025.
2024 USPSA MULTIGUN NATIONALS LEADERBOARD
OPEN
- National Champion-Open: Scott Greene, 3229.8069
- 2nd Overall-Open: Jon Wiedell, 3225.4441
- 3rd Overall-Open: Varick Beise, 3198.1599
TACTICAL
- National Champion-Tactical: Nils Jonasson, 3317.6666
- 2nd Overall-Tactical: Nate Staskiewicz, 2981.0443
MODIFIED
- National Champion-Modified: Daniel Horner, 3431.6203
- 2nd Overall-Modified: Taylor Ohlhausen, 2984.4410
- 3rd Overall-Modified: Houston Russell, 2910.1049
- Ladies National Champion: Lena Miculek, 2885.9992
You can see the full results of the 2024 USPSA Multigun Nationals at the Practiscore website.
Article from the November/December 2024 issue of USPSA’s magazine.
